Game apparatus.



PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905. L. B. PENNELL.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20, 1902.

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'"rirrhe lnii'rie Patented February 28, 1905,

l an'r tlhrrnctt SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,589, dated February 28, 19(35. Application filed March 20,1902. seal-N0. 99,157.

To wZ/Z lull/0777, it 'III/(LZ/ concern:

Be it known that I, LIVINGSTON B. P nnnnui, a citizenof the United States, and a resident of Neenah, in the county of Winnebago and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus; and I. do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

h Iy invention relates to apparatus for a game or puzzle played with a board and movable pieces; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, as will be fully set forth hereinafter in connec tion with the accompanyingdrawings and subsequently claimed.

In the said drawings, Figure l is a plan view illustrating the simplest form of my said gameboard and movable pieces; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View thereof, taken on the plane indicated by the line 2 2 in Fig. 1,

Referring to the drawings, (t represents the said game-board provided with a longitudinal channel or groove Z) across the upper face of the same, with another (and curved) channel or groove intercepting the first named groove at about the center of the board. The groove 6 is to be understood as re tiresenting a straight railroad-track and the curved groove 0 a siding communicating therewith; but in order to dispense with movaljile switchesavhich would only complicate the operation of the game or puzzle, 1 have in the said simplest form herein illustrated omitted rails. On each side of the main track or groove 7/ the board is formed with shallow recesses (marked (Z Pf respectively) to receive the free horizontally-bent outer ends of wire guards or guides /L 1?, which at their inner ends are bent Verticall y, as shown, and. pivotally secured to the game-board close to the inner junction of the main track l and siding o, so as to shut off communication between the two at the desired times, as indicated in Fig. 1, and, i f preferred, stop-pins y' 71: may be located so to project up from the recesses, as shown in said figure, and, similarly, stops m a may be secured at each end of the main groove 7), as shown, or the ends of this groove may be otherwise closed. ,llhree blocks 0 o 0 represent railroad -cars which are each separate and without means of coupling together, same being shown in the drawings as loose in the siding-groove 0, while near each end of the main track or groove 6 are shown three other blocks 7) 7) 7) and I] (1 (1, also representing cars; but the three cars in each of the lastman'ied sets are shown as permanently united togethm', the end cars of each set having coupling loops or staples w w projecting longitudinally there from. There are two other blocks shown, (marked s n) which are designed to represent locomotive-enginos and which have couplinghooks (marked a v: and w: u, respectively) projecting from their front and rear ends for cngagement at the proper times with the proper coupling loops or staples r r of the described united sets of cars 7) ,1.) 1 and 1 (j r and these blocks s in the simplest form herein shown are readily distinguished from the other blocks by the vertical projections I/,2,l1'1ii(3l'ltl0(l to rcpresent engine sinol c-stacl(s. Of course these various blocks may be made more nearly in the shape of railroad engii'ies and cars, if de sired, and same may be mounted on wheels, if preferred; but the dummy blocks herein shown and described will answer every purpose in practice and areof the cheapest form and construction possible.

The objectoli' the game or puzzle is to move the three united cars ,1) p p to the place shown occupied by the three united cars 1 (1 and similarly shift the last-named cars to the place shown as being occupied by the first-mined cars, it being a condition that nomore than three cars can be pushed or pulled by either one of the engines at one time. As the cars 0 o o are neither coupled or united together nor provided with any end coupling devices, those cars (or any one or two of them) can only be pushed by the engines, while the united sets of cars can be either pulled or pushed by one or the other of the engines, as

required, and the pivoted guards or guides /z are to be swung back and forth to either close or open communication between the. main-track groove 7) and siding-groove c, as re- 1 quired, from time to time. it is entirely possible to accomplish the desired result, but is a matter requiring considerable time and study,

and therefore the said game apparatus affords opportunity for an indefinite amount of practlce and amusement, besides being instructive in giving opportunity for gaining skill and ex perience in practical railroading,short sidings, and long trains of cars, being matters of every day experience in that business.

The preferred method of solving the puzzle is as follows, with the pieces all arranged as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings: First, the engine t will cut loose from the united ears 9 q q and push the loose cars 0 0 0 against engine s and will return and couple to cars q q 0 and draw same to siding and cut loose (leaving said cars on siding) and keep on to main track I) and go back to left-hand end of the track, where the cars q q formerly stood. Next, engine s cuts loose from carsp p y) and pushes cars 0 0 0 down against e-nginet at left end of main track 7) and comes back to siding c and pushes ears q q 9 up against cars siding c and leaves them there, and engine if backs out to main track I) and moves on same past the right-hand end of the siding and backs up on siding 0 against the cars 0 a 0 thereon, so as to leave track 7) clear. Then engine 8 runs down main track 7) to the left-hand end thereof. Then engine t pushes cars 0 0 0 from siding 0 up against engine 8 at lefthand end' of track 7). Next, enginez moves forward on main track 7) to cars q q and couples to same and then backs up onto siding 0, driving cars q q (1 onto said siding and cuts loose, leaving said cars q q 7 on the siding and backs onto main track 7) and then goes forward on main track 7) past the right-hand end of said siding 0 and backs up onto the siding and pushes cars q q against the loose cars 0 u 0 at the left-hand end of the main track 6, the proportion of the track being such that now at the left-hand end of the said main track I) there will be, first, engine against the said left-hand end, nextthe loose cars 0 0 0, and next the united cars 9 q q, and finally the engine 6, which occupy the entire left hand of the main track 7) to the left of the junction of said main track 7) and left-hand end of the siding 0, While against the right-hand end ofthe main track are the united cars 7) p. Next, engine 6 goes forward on the main track 5 to the right-hand end thereof and couples to cars p p and draws them back on the main track opposite the center of the siding and uncouples, leaving the cars 7) j) 7) as stated, and the sa1d engine if continues its backward course on the main track Next, engine if pushes cars a a 0 onto i till it reaches cars q q q, to which it couples and draws them forward through the siding c and goes to the right-hand end of the main track 7) with the cars r r (1 still coupled, this completing the solution at the right-hand end i of the track. Next engine awill push the loose cars 0 0 0 onto the siding c and leave them there and go forward onto the main track L, and backs up on said track to the cars p p p, to which the said engine .s'then couples and draws the cars after it as the engine goes to the left-hand end of the main track with said cars p 72 p still coupled to the said engine, thus completing the solution of the puzzle.

the cars q q q are always permanently united together in groups of three during the entire operation, and it will be understood that neither engine at any one time is to handle more than three cars, and the proportions of the track and siding and of the cars and engine are correspondingly limited, it being absolutely essential to the successful working of the puzzle that the siding 0 shall be of only sufiicient length to hold three cars and an engine at any one time. It will be further noted that it is essential that the described siding 0 should be a single continuous siding of the form shown in the drawings and not a Y or double siding, as only the former construction would enable my invention to be operated and the game or puzzle solved in the manner designed and intended by me.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A game apparatus, comprising a board with a long main track across the same, a shorter single continuous curved track or siding, communicating at each end with said main track, and three groups of movable pieces, representing cars, with two pieces representing engines, each of the said groups of cars comprising three pieces, those in one of the groups being wholly detached and those in the two other groups being united together, and each end of each engine being adapted to couple with either end of the two groups of united cars, the described siding being capable of holding only three cars and one engine atany one time.

2. A game apparatus, comprising aboard with a long main track across the same; a shorter single continuous curved track or siding communicating at each end with said main track; pivoted guards or guides for opening and closing communication between said main i track and said siding at proper times; a group of three wholly detached movable pieces representing railroad-cars; two other groups of similar pieces, three in each group, inseparably united together; and two other pieces reprel senting railroad-engines; the said engines, and

teams 3 the two last-named groups of cars being prohave hereunto set my hand, at Neenah, in the vided With coupling devices for engagement county of Winnebago and State of Wisconsin, When desired, and all of the movable pieces in the presence of two Witnesses. being in engagement with said tracks, the said I LIVINGSTON B. PENN ELL. 5 siding being capable of holding only one engine and three cars at any one time.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing l Witnesses:

(J. M. Pinon, W. E. SCHNEIDER. 

